Mail pouch catching and delivering means



Jan. 17, 1933. l. .1. LANE MAIL POUCH CATCHING AND DELIVERING MEANS Filed Oct. 27, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l .[NVENTOR [sczac Jlazze B) ATTORNEY Jan-l7, 1933. 1. J. LANE MAIL POUCH CATCHING AND DELIVERING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 27. 1930 INVENTOR Isaac J. Lane ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 17, 1933 V UNITED, sif

IsAAo LANE, or TOPEKA, KAiis s ivrA L roucircnronmo Ann nitrivunme MEANS Application.filed October 27, 1939. Serial No.491,3 l4.

"My invention relates to improvements in a mail catching and delivering means.

The object of my invention is to provide M means for the receiving and deliveringof mail pounches simultaneously.

"A further object of my invention is to provide mail pouch receiving and delivering means having toggle actuated jaws and mechanismfor locking said jaws in closed position controlledby the size of the neck portion of the pouch and which it is released by an operator in the mail car v or at a'station. I

These and other objects will hereinafter be more fully explained, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in whichlike characters will apply to like parts in the different views. Y Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of the crane and mail car with the jaws of an delivering means positioned "in working relation to each other, parts being removed for convenience of illustration. i Fig. 2 is an elevation of Fig. 1', the car being in section taken 011111192 2 in Fig. i

Fig. 3 is'an enlarged plan viewof the'jaw ence of illustration. x p 7. i

Fig. 4 is a view looking into the jaws when" reversed, and showinga portion of the su porting means partly in section'and" parts removed'foriconvenience of illustration. Fig. 5 is a side view of the spring tensioned bar thatiis spaced downward from the'jaws,

mechanism, parts being removed for convenshown' partlyin section" for convenience of v illustration.

My invention herein d s ase consists of a mail pouch supporting means rockably positionedwithin a mail car and extendable therefrom, and a crane stationarily supported in workingrelation to the mail car and having a supporting means for a mail pouch, by which means the' outgoing and incoming pouches are exchanged and re tained by the separate means respectively.

'The, means carried bythe mail car con 5 sists of a vertically positioned'column' 1 deis adapted to maintain the same in locked position until the mail pouch catching right anglesand onthe upper end of the leg a sleeve9 having a shaft 10 revolubly positioned thereon.

tachably arranged by inserting the upper end portioninan apertured plate 2 secured to the ceiling of the car and a plate 3 on the floor to receive the lower end of the column when the same-is moved upward sufiicient to seat therein, by which means the said column may be placed on either side of the door. It is understood that'the plates will be'e mployed for each side thereof. Positioned on the column is a collar 4 adjustable longitudinally therealong functioning as a stop for the apertured hub 5 of an arm 6, the said hub being revoluble on the column, by which means the arm iss'wung in and out of the car. The outer end of the arm is apertured and has a slot extending longitudinally of the arm a short distance and at right angles to the aperture, by which means clamping arms are formed which are held in clamping position by a bolt 7-,' Positioned in the aperture vertically is a leg 8 that is movable longitudinally and clamped in-a desired position by the meansabove described." Rigidly attached andpositioned' at The said shaft has a shoulder as at A on the outer end thereof to restrict an outward movement of the shaftf 0n theother end of the shaft is a head 11 detachably arranged for convenience of assembly thru the medium of a pin 11 extendv ing'thru the head and inner'end of the shaft '10.. Thefsaid head is bifurcated and has a sleeve'12 transversely extending therefrom for the purpose later'described. Near each end of the bifurcation of the head members is a jaw member lgpivotally attached to the head member and adapted to rock to and from each other simultaneously-thru the me dium of a toggle joint 14, the outer ends of .which are pivotally connected to their respective aw members, the adjacent or inner ends thereof being pivotally connected to a toothed rack 15, the said rack slidably en-- gaging in the sleeve 12, by which means swinging movement of the aw members with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rack is the same when therack is moved outwardly 1 or inwardly relative to the sleeve. The rack medium of the pawl as previously described,

and to release the same the pawl is disengaged by compressing the leg portion thereof as at E.

Oppositely positioned oneach side of the head 1s a spring tensioned finger 18 pivotally. mounted on the head and adapted to swing in either direction as shown by dotted line F in Fig. 3. The saidfingers have a laterally extending bend as at G, by which means an end portion thereof is-spaced from the head and insertable thru a ring 19 positioned on either end of the mail pouch as shown in Fig. 2, by which means the pouch is vertically supported and attached to both ends thereof. It is understood that the outer point of the finger is seated in a notch'in a boss 20 secured to the head or bar as the case may be and is removabletherefrom when the pouch is received or delivered, the function of which is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2'.

The lower end of the pouch is attached to a similar finger to that described above, the

said finger being carried by a bar 21 pivotally connected to an adjustably arranged hanger 22 that is secured to the lower end of leg 8 thru the medium of a set screw 23. The said bar has a downwardly extending portion as at 24 that is apertured to receive a pin 25 that is secured to the hanger and has a recoil spring 26 on the outer end thereof to engage snugly in a counter sink 27 in the said extended portion. The spring is compressed by a nut 28 threadedlyengagingon the outer end ofv the pin to form resilient ,means to counteract the downward tension of the outer end of the bar 21. The bar, is

free to flex when engaging the lower end of a mail pouch, the length of which may vary.

In 1 the mail car is shown to be moving in the direction of the arrow H with the jaws of the members confronting each other and when traveling in the opposite direction the jaws are reversed by removing pins 29 and 30., so that the shafts carrying the jaws may be free to rotate and are held stationarily by reinserting the pins which engage in the aperture on the opposite side of the shaft. It will be understood that the receiving and delivering means that iscarried by the car will be positioned on the rear side of the door with respect to the direction the car is moving, and is so positioned that the arm may contact on the jamb-to prevent a backward rotation, and after receiving the pouch the same may be swung into the car and removed sitioned adjacent the track is free to revolve on the standard 31. The said standard is vertically carried by the base plate 82 which has an upwardly extending hub bored. axially. to receive the standard and meansto secure the same therein.

On the upper end of the standard is a cantilever 33' adapted to rock from ahorizontal to a vertical position as indicated by dotted lines J as it is pivotally carried by a block 3i secured to the upper end of the standard. The block has a horizontally positioned seat in the upper end thereof in which the lever will rest horizontally. fThe said lever is equipped with a. spherical weight on one end thereof, the other end having a finger thereon as previously described. The weight functions as an overbalanceto move the other end upward when themail;

pouch is removed from the crane. V

Intermediately positionedon the standard is a disc like member 36 concentrically attached and slantingly' positioned with re spect to a horizontal plane, the slant being downward and outward.

inner end of the arm is pivotally connected to the ears 87 of a sleeve 38 that slidably and revolvably engages on the standard, the arm being pivoted in such a way that the rocking:

movement thereof is restricted downward from a right angledposition with respect to the sleeve and is stopped in its outward move ment by contact of an intermediate portion thereof with the, sleeve as shown. at K. I in. Fig. 2. It will be understood that the fingers onthe head and the finger on the inner end.

of the cantilever will vertically align as supporting means. for a pouch therebetween. as shown in Fig.2. The downward and outwardslant ofthe disc is arranged to finally V The said disc functions as a track on which a rockably mount;

The said arm position the mail pouch. at the outward side of the standard as shown by dottedl'li'nes L in Fig. 2. Such modifications may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims, and having fully described my invention what I claim as newv and desire to, secure by.

Letters Patentis: v V

1. Ina mail pouch catching and delivering means, a bifurcated head having 'a sleeve laterally extending therefrom,a toothed rack slidably mounted within the sleeve, a spring tensioned pawl pivoted on the sleeve toengage the teeth, a. pair of. jaws pivotally attached to the head, and a toggle jointed element pivotally connected to the jaws and to the rack, by hich means the jaws are opened and locked in a closed position,substantially as shown.

2. In a mail pouch catching and delivering means, a rockably mounted arm carried by a mail car, a leg vertically carried by the outer end of the arm, a sleeve carried by the upper end of the leg and positioned at right angles thereto, a shaft rotatably positioned in the sleeve and means to secure the same against rotation when selectively positioned, a head on the outer end of the shaft, the head having a sleeve laterally extending therefrom, a pair of jaws pivotally carried by the head, a toggle oint element con-' necting the jaws, a toothed rack slidably mounted in the sleeve of the head and connected tothe center joint of tle toggle to move the toggle to open the jaws, and a spring actuated pawl pivoted to the sleeve to engage the teeth of the rack as locking means to retain the jaws in locked position, a spring tensioned finger swingably mounted on the head as carrying means for a mail pouch, and a similar finger vertically aligned with the first fingers, and means to carry the same on the other end of the leg, for the purpose specified.

3. In a mail pouch catching and delivering means, a column, an arm swingably mounted on the column, a leg carried transversely on the outer end of the arm, reversibly arranged jaws and means to carry the same on the upper end of the leg and having spring tensioned means to pendent-1y support a mail pouch, the jaws having a toggle joint, a rackand a pawl to lock the same when closed by contact of the email pouch with the toggle joint, a'bar and a hanger by gravity 7 adapted carried by the lower end of the leg, the bar pivotally engaging on the hanger and spring tensioned means on the outer. end of the bar to connect with the lower end of the mail pouch.

4. In a mail pouch catching and delivering means, a standard and means to stationarily support the same in working relation to a mail pouch catching and delivering means carried by a mail car, a cantilever transversely carried on the upper end of the standard and having spring tensioned means to pendently support a mail pouch, the said cantilever being pivotally connected to the standard so as to move when the mail pouch is released, an arm and a sleeve, said arm and sleeve being 'pivotally connected, the sleeve being to revolve and slide longitudinally on a standard, a disc having a hub axially carried on the standard, the disc portion being slantingly positioned and functioning as a guiding means for the arm at the lower ,side thereof, toggle actuated jaws reversibly to vertical position arranged on the outer end of the arm, and a toothed rack to actuate the toggle to move the jaws to a closed position, and spring tensioned means on the outer end of the arm to function as attaching means for the lower end of the mailpouch.

5. In a mail pouch catching and delivering means, a crane of the class described comprising a standard and stationary supporting means therefor, a seated block on the upper end of the standard, and a lever pivotally engaging at one end of the seat and adapted to rest therein horizontally, the lever having a spherical weight on the outer end thereof to vertically position the same, a spring tensioned finger on theother end of the lever as pendent supporting means an arm and sleeve pivotally connected so that the arm transversely extends with respect to the axisof the sleeve, the sleeve being adapted to revolve and slide longitudinally on the standard, a head revolubly carried on the outer end of the arm as reversing means therefor, and means to stationarily support the head in a selected position, spring tensioned fingers positioned on opposite sides of the head as attaching means for the lower end of a mail pouch, a pair of jaws extending from the head and pivotally connected thereto, a toggle jointed element connecting the jaws to move the outer ends of the same to and from each other, a toothed rack pivotally connected to the center joint of the toggle element and a spring actuated pawl to engage with the teeth as a locking means for the closed position of thejaws, the jaws being closed by the contact of a mail pouch with the toggle element as it enters the jaws, a disc axially carried by the standard and slant ingly positioned with respect to the horizontal plane, the periphery of the disc being adapted to receive the load of the arm to guidethe same to the lower side thereof, all

as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. ISAAC J. LANE.

for a mail pouch, 

